Legal Recourse
Facing a lengthy probation in 2006 for transgressions committed while she was a high school student, Carmen Day pleaded with the sentencing judge, Charles Dortch, that she would mend her ways and someday graduate from law school. Impressed by her sincerity, the judge reduced her sentence. Thirteen years later, Day CCAS’16, RLAW’20, who was born and raised in Camden, fulfilled her promise and graduated from Rutgers Law School in December 2019. (She also graduated from Rutgers University–Camden magna cum laude, double majoring in political science and criminal justice.) Day again encountered Dortch CLAW’84 when a law school classmate invited Day to visit Dortch’s courtroom last year. Day was overcome with emotion; Dortch proudly introduced her to the prosecutors and public defenders, who gave her a round of applause.